Goodbye John, RIP

John Sidgmore, the former CEO of UUNet and a sometime CEO of WorldCom passed away yesterday after fighting a long battle with acute pancreatitis. He was 52.

bq. Longtime friend Peter Barris, who recruited Sidgmore to take the helm of UUNET Technologies in 1994, called him a savvy businessman whose networking skills were crucial in expanding the Internet’s role in industry. Sidgmore was a partner in Barris’ company.

bq. “He engendered an incredible amount of loyalty in the people who worked for him,” said Barris, manager general of venture capital firm New Enterprise Associates. “He was a consummate deal maker and building the Internet in the early stages required a lot of strategic partnerships.” (Associated Press)

Sidgmore started his career with GE and later in 1990s came on board to become the CEO of UUNet at its most crucial time and successfully sold the company to Jim Crowe, who later flipped the company to WorldCom. He was one of the first few Internet millionaires and was also an active venture capital investor.

bq. One of Northern Virginia’s “serial entrepreneurs,” Mr. Sidgmore was president and chief executive of CSC Intelicom from 1989 to 1994. He went on to become president and chief operating officer of MFS Communications, which merged in 1995 with UUNet Technologies Inc., the world’s largest Internet access provider, in a $2 billion deal. (Washington Post)

bq. Under his charge, UUNET, grew from $6 million in revenue in 1995 to $4 billion in 1999. UUNET, now an MCI company, is the world’s largest Internet access provider. He earned his bachelor of science degree in economics from the State University of New York in 1973. He is survived by his wife, Randi, and his son, Michael. (Associated Press)